Albatros. (Yes. One 's'. I assure you they knew what they were doing...)

[GarrisonChisholm]

Work on Cleisthenes continued even as the first crew began processing the latest Munar and Kerbal science.  Two boosters dubbed '80K' were launched with the final two modules, the Kerbin Dome observation module and the Observatories module.  The Observatories module was unfortunately, and expensively, launched twice due to the most fundamental error- the probe core was installed upside down, causing an immediate crash after launch.  The second attempt succeeded however, resulting in a finally completed Cleisthenes;

The initial crew would work for 6 months, when hopefully a crew hired specifically for the station could be rotated in.  Affording those new hires looked to be a leap, until quite unexpectedly a never before seen contract appeared on KASA's offerings list;

An utter goldmine of a reward.  3 Triple-Z observatories already orbited Kerbin, so sending one to Mun was nearly child's play.  An 80k booster was ordered for the job and a Triple-Z observatory mounted, its launch to occur hopefully within 200 days.

Next on the itinerary was the Moho Relay, which through a poor launch window or some other fault proved to be 1000 m/s short of the Dv required for orbit.

So, it became an impactor, sending data back as it drew closer and closer to Moho's spectacularly radiated surface-

Spoiler

altitude 35 meters, retrograde velocity 5km/s

And the last mission in the current list was the Eeloo Botany-Bay lander, here coasting towards Eeloo's sphere of influence-

Eeloo loomed large, though orbit was achieved and the landing planned out with no difficulty.

With a surface more smooth than any in the solar system a fresh crater-rim was the only obstacle to avoid as Mission Control managed the touchdown.

Spoiler

The second world visited in the Sarnus system, the glassy vista was amazing to behold.  Even more amazing, the probe was able to collect the required data and return to orbit to plot its return to Kerbin in 220 days.

Edited March 20 by GarrisonChisholm

[GarrisonChisholm]

Following the Eeloo Lander's return to orbit the Eeloo Flyby probe arrived, its much simpler mission to just acquire and transmit high and low-space Botany Bay experiment results, after which it will sail on into a wide and harborless Kerbol orbit.

Shortly afterwards another Minmus mission was flown to visit two regions and return to Cleisthenes to deliver the raw data for research, here Mina-2 is shown in orbit of Minmus and catching the spectacular sight of Mun occluding Kerbin.

After a long attempt at rendezvous however it was clear the return to Kerbin had not been thought out and getting the data to Cleisthenes would not be possible.  Re-entry created quite the orbital hazard however as the landing module fuel-tanks exploded, casting every device and part attached to it into a shower of debris that would take several days to deorbit completely.

Spoiler

Though it lacked the hoped-for collection of source material in its lab, Cleisthenes' first dedicated crew none-the-less departed on a new low-cost launcher and capsule to accommodate the desired crew of 6;

With its larger diameter the newly-hired crew would have to dock at the Venturestar Node, allowing the initial crew to head home on Deadalus.

However- KASA then had a brilliant idea, an idea it thought was so brilliant that it didn't think about available docking nodes, so no sooner had the crew settled in than Natakin had to bounce back into the Pasiphae capsule and move it to that exact same less accessible docking node, hoping the computer was smart enough to not clip the aft solar array.

With a pretty snazzy orbital insertion the new Venturestar Node docking port made its way over and decoupled for its own docking;

With its artfully (KASA clearly has no pride) recessed attachment Venturestar would now be able to dock with more clearance, and as well Pasiphae which immediately moved back over.  The station would run on a schedule of 450 days for the dedicated primary crew and 90 days for the 4-person back up crew while the main team rested back on Kerbin.  A mission might need to be designed specifically to get more science to Cleisthenes.

Edited March 23 by GarrisonChisholm

[GarrisonChisholm]

The ensuing 18 months contained progress both on resupplying Cleisthenes with more data to study and in the Albatros plan for a landing on Laythe.

First the Laythe Lander reached the moon and entered orbit-

- though with an unfortunate orbital eccentricity.  It would remain to be seen if this could be utilized or if a new mission step (circularization & refueling) would be required.

The second Laythe Waystation made orbit successfully, and would shortly set off retracing the steps of the first waystation but hopefully with slightly more success.

A rather more-capable Moho Relay was also dispatched,

(which KASA had first used decades ago but forgotten about...  >.> )

- which a few months later successfully entered Moho orbit and assumed operations.

Additionally the aforementioned Cleisthenes data was acquired by dispatching a new probe named Athens, which after visiting the Munnar midlands returned to Kerbin orbit and docked with the station.

Spoiler

Athens I on its return to Kerbin

Subsequently the first "relief" crew for Cleisthenes rendezvoused and docked with the station, and the Primary crew was able to disembark and return.

( the crew seems oddly concerned ... that wouldn't be because a manufacturing error blew up their OMS upon ignition in the FIRST attempt now would it... )

KASA would focus now on doing missions which supported maximizing the Albatros architecture while it was available and continuing the Muna and Mina explorations which would extend the scientific knowledge of the Program.

( that will be the last beauty shot of Cleisthenes, I am going to focus on the interesting bit which I think is Albatros henceforth, everything else I don't see as being extraordinary for veteran players )

Spoiler

well, maybe one more.

 

Edited March 27 by GarrisonChisholm